Whereas Christmas only lasts one day, Sacramento Beer Week lasts 10 whole days! That’s a week-plus of beer, food, beer, entertainment and beer (glorious beer). This year’s Beer Week will see local bars and restaurants hosting a variety of events—way too many to list here—but here are a few that we think you’d be crazy not to check out. For a full listing, go to Sacramentobeerweek.com!
Touch: Home Brewing Demo with Track 7 Brewing and Brew Ferment Distill at Bows and Arrows • Feb. 24, 2013
Have you ever tasted a finely crafted beer and thought to yourself, “I could totally do that?” Well now you totally can! Sacramento Beer Week will get its DIY on at Bows and Arrows on Feb. 24 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., during Bows and Arrows’ Sunday brunch, you will learn the ins and outs of home brewing and make your own IPA. Track 7 will provide the grains and hops and Brew Ferment Distill (located at 3527 Broadway, Sacramento) will bring the supplies. Bows and Arrows will also offer Track 7 beers on tap, including the brewing company’s much ballyhooed double IPA collaboration with Knee Deep of Lincoln, Calif. Best of all, this event is free and open to the public! Your attendance is guaranteed to quadruple your beer nerd cred points instantaneously. Check out Bowscollective.com for more information.
Photo by Scott Bellisario {Social Stitcher/Instagram @ufallome}
See: Sacramento’s Newest Brewery, New Helvetia Brewing Company • Feb. 25, 2013
New Helvetia Brewing Company just celebrated its grand opening this past week, but its roots in Sacramento’s beer scene actually delve much deeper. The company’s mission is to create craft beer inspired by the Buffalo Brewing Company, which was established in Sacramento in 1890. On Feb. 25, New Helvetia will host a casual gathering with Dr. Charlie Bamforth, U.C. Davis’ Chair of the Department of Food Science and Technology and Anheuser-Busch Endowed Professor of Malting and Brewing Sciences. Tickets to this event will be $25 in advance and $30 at the door. The ticket price will include up to six 10-ounce pours of New Helvetia’s brews. New Helvetia Brewing Company is located at 1730 Broadway, Sacramento. For more info on the brewery, go to http://newhelvetiabrew.com/.
Hear: Lagunitas’ Brewmaster Tony Magee Talk Shop at The Torch Club • March 1, 2013
Not only can Lagunitas’ brewmaster Tony Magee make a great beer, he’s also really good at playing American roots music. Magee will be making the trip up from Petaluma, Calif., to meet with all of you and perform a few songs at The Torch Club (904 15th Street) from 5 to 9 p.m. As an added bonus, he’ll be bringing Lagunitas’ Wilco Tango Foxtrot Brown Ale in tow. The Torch Club will offer an $8 beer and brat combo and $4 refills on your frosty beverage. You even get to keep the glass! Lagunitas may not be a Sacramento beer, but it is a local favorite, so expect this event to be especially lively.
Taste: The Rainbow of Beers at the Third Annual Capital Beerfest • March 2, 2013
Dude. Bro. OK. So all these Sacramento Beer Week events (and the multitude we didn’t have space to list) are awesome, but if there was one that you’d have to consider the pièce de résistance, it’s this. From noon to 5 p.m., Cal Expo will fill up with the sweet, sweet aroma of fermented barley and hops. The air will permeate with an alluring maltiness (which isn’t a word, but you see what we’re going for here). As of press time, 84 breweries have signed on to appear at the Capital Beerfest, 21 of which are from the Sacramento area. We’d normally consider namedropping as beneath us, but in this case we’re just going to let it roll: River City Brewing, Sudwerk, Ruhstaller, Roseville Brewing Company and Lockdown are just a few that will be representing our region; meanwhile, Alaskan Brewing (Anchorage), Goose Island Beer Company (Chicago), Hop City (Brampton, Ontario, Canada), Oskar Blues (Longmont, Colo.) and Rogue Brewery (Newport, Ore.) are some of the out-of-towners. You’ll also be able to sample food from restaurants participating in Sacramento Beer Week. Clearly, this event is going to be epic. All that it’s missing is you. Tickets range from $40 to $75 (and $5 to $20 for designated drivers). For more info on where to get tickets, go to http://capitalbeerfest.com/.
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